Congratulations to Sherburne-Earlville Quarterback Darren Miles for breaking the school record with most touchdown passes thrown in a season (18). (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

SHERBURNE – The Sherburne-Earlville Marauders football team, along with its strong community, support, came together for Thursday night’s Military Appreciation night. With a beautiful ceremony at the start to the Marauders’ 54-0 shutout over Utica-Notre Dame, it was a great night in Sherburne.

“This night every year means a lot as we try to give back to our community and do the right things on and off the field,” said S-E head coach Steve Franklin, who watched his team stay pumped throughout the entirety of the game.

S-E scored 33 points in the first quarter alone, while adding 14 more to take a 47-0 lead at halftime. At halftime, fans were reminded that Quarterback Darren Miles only needed one more touchdown pass to break Cody Marango’s school record (17).

Miles broke the record on S-E’s first offensive drive in the second half. He threw a deep pass to Nick Hull, who hauled it in to make his quarterback proud. Miles quickly celebrated with Hull before going to hug his father. The home crowd also gave Miles a standing ovation. Miles now has 18 touchdown passes on the season.

“I couldn’t do it without my guys up front and my receivers,” Miles said. “It’s a special moment and I’m grateful for the coaches to give me the opportunity, but we can’t be satisfied. We can’t settle for less than to go win a championship.”

Coach Franklin said he was proud of his senior quarterback who has seen the ups and downs of this team throughout his career.

“Darren is our senior leader. He’s been at the helm of some rough times, but he stayed the course and put in the work,” Franklin said. “He’s just seeing the field really well.”

Darren finished the memorable night with seven touchdown passes, which could also be S-E’s record for the most passes in a single game, and threw for 270 yards. Miles is not far off from breaking other records with a handful of games left.

Nick Hull led all receivers with four touchdown receptions while Justin Race, Aaron Key, and Ethan Shaw all had one. Hadden Price also got playing time in the Quarterback position while the defense put on the heavy pressure to keep the Jugglers off the board. Landon Andrade (two) and Aiden Keihn (one) led the defense in sacks.

Franklin also added emphasis on what’s been keeping his team’s spirit alive. This was the Marauders’ second shutout of the season after defeating Jamesville-Dewitt 26-0 last week.

“I tell them every week, we’ve been at the bottom and that’s keeping them hungry. They work hard and know that ‘enough is enough’ and that it’s time to turn it around,” Franklin said. “We have a few tough opponents coming up, including Phoenix, which could decide playoff seeding. We were feeling up today and worked on a couple different things to make it good down the stretch.”

S-E improves to 5-1 and heads to Holland Patent next Saturday at 6 p.m.